Travel companies in Ho Chi Minh City have put tours to Can Gio and Cu Chi, two districts at low risk of coronavirus infections, up for sale as the city’s commercial, services, and tourism activities have been resumed after a lengthy lockdown.

The firms started marketing the day-long tours this week, offering a package to Can Gio District at VND1.6 million (US$66) per visitor while that to Cu Chi District is set from VND680,000 ($30) per visitor.

Tour operators expect to receive visitors every weekend after October 15.

All tourists must either be fully vaccinated for at least 14 days, have proof of their recovery from COVID-19, or certificates of a positive antibody or COVID-19 test result before departing.

However, the number of guests will be limited to only 50 percent of the normal capacity to ensure social distancing requirements.

The official launch of the tours comes after their trial trips on September 19, when natural and historical sites in the two districts welcomed 227 medical workers from other localities that had come to assist Ho Chi Minh City in the fight against COVID-19.

The trips were tested by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism in collaboration with tour operator Saigontourist.

As they proved a success, Saigontourist went on to organize six more similar tours, serving a total of more than 1,000 visitors who were frontline workers.

“Visitors gave positive feedback on these tours,” said a representative of Saigontourist.

“We also see a very fast recovery of supply and service chains in the two destinations, so we are confident to offer tours at this time.”

These products are also meant for travel firms to measure the market demand and develop more packages for the near future, according to travel company Vietravel.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have built a road map to restore its tourism sector after a long hiatus, starting with travel services in areas at low risk of transmissions, including Can Gio and Cu Chi Districts -- which were the first to declare their successful control over the COVID-19 pandemic in the city.

If the COVID-19 pandemic resurges, local authorities will reduce the scale and scope of those tourism activities.

Ho Chi Minh City is the hardest-hit locality in Vietnam since the beginning of its fourth virus wave on April 27, with more than 400,100 local infections and over 15,200 fatalities.

Infections have slowed down in recent times while approximately seven million of its nine-million population have been given at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

City authorities had applied various social distancing levels in recent months before switching to Directive No. 18 from October 1 to continue preventing and controlling the pandemic while gradually reopening the economy.

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